It seems yesterday was a windy day at Birmingham Airport in the UK! Check out the video of this Emirates 777 going around: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CTFESsA28Q Fortunately it aborted its landing a bit earlier the second time around, and diverted to London Gatwick instead: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AeyBxDUK0zc Perhaps even more interesting is the go around video of this Brussels…
Continue reading: Amazing Birmingham Airport Go Around Videos
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Hamburg was shut down completely, england had similar strong wind
I had a landing like that at LAX on a WN flight...it's one of the oddest feelings when your plane fishtails.
First of all, YIKES.
Second of all, what does it actually take to close an airport?
A few years back I was in Munich on business, and had a quick LH flight to Berlin - same kinda weather, overcast, windy with gusts up to 50 mph. I recall the pilot very calmly telling us - as we backed away from the gate - that it "wasn't going to be very fun for the passengers once we were in the air" but not to worry because "the plane would be fine."
Um, thanks?
@Neil S.
Airports never "close" because of winds. It's up to the operator/pilot to make a decision to attempt a landing, not the airport authority. Every aircraft, operator, and pilot has different limits. And the wind at Birmingham was just fine had the airport not been a small little strip but one with crossing runways (i.e. with a runway more aligned with the wind).
@Hillrider
Quick correction on your post. The lack of a crossing runway does not make an airport a "small little strip". If the likes of ATL can operate without a crossing runway, the having one—or lack thereof—is not an accurate measure of size.
I actually thought the first Emirates attempt looked pretty good there...
My wife is in that part of the UK this week and said it was so windy yesterday that it was almost physically impossible to walk outside.
Lucky, have you ever endured a go-around or aborted landing? Does it feel like what it looks? Ha
@ Mitchzmagic -- I've had three aborted takeoffs and three go arounds in my life. Aborted takeoffs were all at a low speed so no big deal.
As far as the go arounds go, by most traumatic was probably also my first one, which was on Sri Lankan with low visibility.
The two subsequent ones on British Airways and Aer Lingus were both no big deal.
Somehow, the Brussels flight landed on the second attempt - there's a video of it from the same source.